Flip Saunders to move back to Timberwolves bench

Nearly 10 years after Flip Saunders vacated his 10 year tenure as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, he will once again reclaim his old position on the team’s bench, according to ESPN.com.
In the wake of Minnesota’s desperation to keep the 25 year old franchise cornerstone that it has in power forward Kevin Love, Saunders will take on this position in addition to his duties as President of Basketball Operations, a job which he took over a little more than year ago, per Timberwolves.com. While it has been speculated that Saunders might make this move in an effort to persuade Love to stay, as him and his 26 points and 12.5 rebounds per game will be an unrestricted free agent at the commencement of next season, according to < http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10949807/kevin-love-tells-minnesota-timberwolves-sign-extension-likes-chicago-bulls-golden-state-warriors> ESPN.com, it remains to be seen as to whether these turn of events will have any influence on Love’s decision.
But one might argue that it couldn’t hurt. ESPN.com illustrates just how much more success (really none, to be perfectly honest) Flip Saunders has had than every other Timberwolves coach to head up the position: Saunders’s .558 winning percentage (not an elite number, but still very, very good) is .249 higher than the rest of Minnesota’s coaches combined. Saunders’s seven seasons above .500 and eight playoff appearances (granted, his winning percentage in those appearances was .362, nominally better than the combined regular season .309 winning percentage of the rest of the coaches, as mentioned above) also puts the rest of the coaches to shame, all of which have combined to put up goose eggs in both categories.
Some will argue valid notion that Saunders’s return to coaching will bring stability during this uneasy time of frenzy as the organization awaits the unfolding of the Love situation and the fallout thereof. This remains to be seen. As is the impact that this all will have on Kevin Love, and his future with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Image via Facebook from Flip Saunders